Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Lights out

The lights are going out all over Europe. We shall not see them lit again in our lifetime.

—Sir Edward Grey, British Foreign Secretary, 1914

Fjordman, the brilliant political essayist who now publishes in the Brussels Journal, offers a chilling update on Sweden's slide into Islamo-fascism.

The primary reason why I write so much about Sweden is because it is the most totalitarian country in the Western world, and should thus serve as a warning to others. The second reason is that Sweden, like my own country, now needs some "tough love." Too many Swedes still cling on to the myth of the "Swedish model" while their country is disintegrating underneath their feet. If Sweden the nation is to be saved – if it still can be saved, I'm not so sure – then Sweden the ideological beacon for mankind must be smashed, because vanity now blocks sanity.

I don't normally just link to articles without trying to supply some value-added, but Fjordman's description of life in present-day Sweden needs no further comment.

Oh, yes, I did like this bit: "Meanwhile, police officers are protesting against a new uniform designed to make them appear less aggressive by replacing boots with shoes, making guns less visible and changing the shirts to a softer, gentler color."

6 comments:

Rick, I wonder if the Swedish people have just as much trouble expressing their true wishes politically as we do? Or do they think leaders who promote multiculturalism and the "Religion of Peace" are just dandy?

I have a hard time believing that the Swedish people could remain so naive about Islam, with all the immigrants they have. But then we generally assume that in a country of only a few million, that a democratic system ought to be more responsive to the public than ours is. That is, if the people were really bothered, they'd be able to stand up and make their voices heard. Any opinion? (I'm not in the habit of reading Fjordman on a regular basis, so I don't know if he's discussed this.)

My impression — and it's only second-hand; I've never been to Sweden, and the way things are going, probably never will — is that Swedes generally have been conditioned to accept far more state control over their lives than most of us would put up with.

Their "Swedish model" as they like to call it — and they don't mean a gorgeous blonde who poses for photos, but rather a nearly all-encompassing welfare state — has been going for a long time, enough to indoctrinate several generations. For most of that time, it offered a way of life that was attractive to most Swedes. You gave the government in taxes most of what you earned; the government took care of you.

They could point with pride to many things: no serious poverty, unemployment not very painful with all the welfare benefits, no slums because of government-built housing (which, I was informed by someone who had lived in Sweden, was so standardized that you could go into any apartment blindfolded and have no trouble navigating). And, of course, those many weeks of paid vacation.

But I believe there was a serious price to be paid in what this did to the Swedish character. It became second nature to believe that all was for the best in the best of all worlds, that the government was the source of all good and had everyone's best interests in mind. Further, Swedes lived in a sheltered world where most had little contact with the harsh realities and different values of other people elsewhere.

So, when the government told them they needed lots of African and Middle Eastern immigrants, few questioned it. Daddy knew best.

So, to sum up in answer to your question, I reckon there is a small minority of Swedes who are upset about the deterioration of their society, but it hasn't hit most of them yet — not enough to break into their dream. The politically correct censorship of their media certainly doesn't help promote understanding.

What I find most surprising about Sweden, is the attitude of Swedish men.

If harrassment and rape of Swedish women by immigrant gangs is happening, then it is upto the men of that society to put a stop to it.

It is instinctive of the male to protect women. This is simply a law of nature, as continuation of a species or a society requires it. Its in the DNA, for heavens sake.

If Swedish men put their foot down, then the authorities will back down, as no state can confront the entire male population of the state.

Has Sweden become so civilised that its men have lost that vital instinct? And yet, I find it hard to credit that social conditioning can have such a consequence. After all, the Swedish model has been in effect for at most a 100 years. This is too small a time for the elimination of an instinctive impulse.

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PS: I wrote something similar many years ago on Fjordman's blog, when he first posted on this issue.

It is incomprehensible to me as well that Swedish "men" have become so neutered that they can't be motivated to do whatever is needed to stop the widespread rape of their country's women. And despite my theorizing about the pernicious effect of the welfare state on the psychology of Swedes, it's also hard to believe that the system could so distort human nature, in a way that not even the Communist regime in the Soviet Union was able to do.

But I suppose people will fall for a "soft" centralized statism more easily than a Soviet-style, totalitarian version.

I'm confused about the "rape" situation in Sweden. Is there a huge increase in rapes or not? If there is, then the attitude of Swedish men is inexplicable. It violates the most fundamental instinctive response of the male - protection of your women. The Israel Defence forces for instance, do not put women in combat situations, as they found that the male soldier, was likely to protect a female soldier first, then do his duty by the platoon.

I'm all for equality of the sexes, but it must be said, that when push comes to shove, and hard actions have to be taken with cold and ruthless purpose, then in general, it is men that have the biological edge.

Either Fjordman is wrong, or there is something in the water suppy of Sweden.

Olympus, where the abode of the gods stands firm and unmoving forever, they say, and is notshaken with windsnor spattered with rains,nor does snow pile ever there, but the shining bright airstretches cloudless away,and the white lightglances upon it.

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